Making the Transition back to the college atmosphere can be a difficult one; especially if you are involved in the cryptosphere. This transition can be made even harder if your portfolio is not prepared for this transition as well. Habits and actions are what separate professionals from amateurs. We, as humans, are creatures of habit and we carry this weight with us everywhere.
What if I told you that by just reprogramming the software in your brain that you could trade these habits of an amateur in for the practice of a professional? This trick does not involve charts, trading, or school; this trick deals with you. By practicing these five steps I can ensure you that your new habits will change your life for good.
Mindset can be the biggest barrier to achieving what we want.
Have Compassion for yourself
Our generation is among one of the hardest working but yet we lack a defining trait of the professional. Self Compassion. Look around, it is apparent that we are lacking self trust and have holes in our armor of confidence. Rebuilding our armor of confidence can be as easy as one change but it requires dedication and for us to start with our self-compassion. When you have self-compassion, you will understand that your worth is unconditional.
To start building your self compassion you need to address the “suffering” in a certain aspect in your life. You need to prepare a strategy; you cannot run in to this battle blindly like Napoleon Bonaparte’s battle at Waterloo. Even the best can fall due to the lack of a plan. Always Keep records to look back on to see your progress if you ever second guess yourself.
Start by finding the source of the problem; “I keep seeing losses in my trading” or “I want to improve my grades this semester”.
Have multiple plans of attack and execute the best one. “I will trade less and have better charts” or “I will study more and be ahead in each on of my classes”.
Record what you have accomplished in a record log. “Record your trades in a trade log” or “keep a checklist of homework completed, tests, and grades to look back on”.
Do not live, but learn from the past
It is never healthy to dwell on past events because it prohibits you from succeeding in the future. If one was to dwell over a trade loss or a bad grade all of the time, they would never see a profitable trade or a good grade. They live in the past and they stay there; as time opens new opportunities they are turned down by the individual living in the past. Only until that individual learns from the past will he be able to live in the now and see what other opportunities await.
One must also be grounded in the now. If an individual is too far outside the boundaries of what is capable, they will never reach their great future, It will always seem like it is so close but yet so far away. It is only when one lives in the now that they can build the bridge connecting them to their future.
In order to become a better trader or a better student you must learn from the past, live in the now, and see the future ahead. Do not dread over a bad trade, the markets are flowing 24/7 and there will always be another opportunity to make money. It will take some time to recover but it will not be the end of the world. Do not panic over a bad grade, there will alway be room for improvement in school. Talk to your teacher, find out what mistakes you made and how you can prepare better for the next test, study your mistakes and learn for them, go back more prepare for the next test.
If you want to build up your confidence armor, you will need to learn how to not let the past burn holes in your armor. Once you are able to achieve this, only then will you start to see an improvement in your armor and mindset.
Do not live by the opinion of others
Who gave you these labels? Who wrote your story for you? No one because the tribe doesn’t care. The social construct that makes up our tribe doesn’t give a shit about you. When it comes down to it, they are too busy wrapped up in their own little world to dedicate time and attention to you. Do not let the opinion of others influence your decision; You got in this for a reason, do not leave without a reason. This goes for anything in life that you are passionate about. You will be met with challenges in life including people calling you crazy for not working a 9-5, following your dream, or even doing what you love. Never listen to these people, just nod and keep on working because what differentiates them between you and me is that it take a little crazy to be incredibly good at something. In the case of crypto do not FOMO in to buys and blindly follow others only to get rekt, and these “signal” providers? Where do you think they get their signals from? Keep your vision focused and do not live by the labels of others. You create your own destiny, no one else should.
Start to become the professional you always have been
Since most of us are professionals in training, it helps to get in to the mindset to become one. As a student and a participant in the cryptosphere you are already one step ahead of the “social herd”. As blooming professionals, individuals in the herd will often look to you for advice and this is where you can thrive.
Think back to all of the times you have reached out for help and have succeeded with such help. The professionals that gave you this help are masters of this skill. They know that teaching someone rather than giving them the answer will give you the opportunity to learn just as they did. Notice how they gave you clue’s and hints to find the best possible solution without giving you the answer.
As a student and a crypto advocate, I urge you to practice helping others in a professional way. Practice not giving away all of your information, practice teaching someone, and practice opening the opportunity to learn. Learning to help others means that one must learn to defer gratification as well.
Deferring gratification describes the process that the one undergoes when the individual resists the temptation of an immediate reward in preference for a later reward. This may seem like such a simple task but with the amount of information out there it makes it nearly impossible. For example, imagine having done all your research & TA and found the “perfect” entry for a position, your position starts to lose money and seems like it will be stopped out. But right before it hits the stop, it moons… straight up. If you were to have acted too soon you would have pulled out and missed a great opportunity.
Deferred gratification is a key part of controlling your emotions and making logical decisions. However, it usually fails if there is no strategy to solidify your plan. School is another great example of deferred gratification. Think about all of the studying that you have done in school. What has it been done for? You study but there is no instant reward for it. The gratification comes when you take your test and get the desired A. Or better yet, all the tests and studying means that you graduate in the top of your class.
Balance, Balance, Balance
You need balance in order to perform at your maximum potential. Think of balance as yin and yang. There is always some evil in good and some good in evil; essentially saying that there will always be a balance between good and evil.
There must be a balance between your school life and your crypto life in order to achieve the best possible results from both side. Balance is the core fundamental of your professional body. Think about it; If you can’t stick to a plan and follow your own rules, if you get impatient and change your strategy every time you lose in a trade, or if you can’t deal with losing money, because trading is about winning and losing too (but being profitable in the end) most likely you will fail too. If you can’t stick to your school schedule and follow your routine, if you get angry and upset every time you get a bad grade, or if you can’t deal with sacrificing time for your studies, then you will most likely fail too.